April 13 (Bloomberg) -- Farm groups agreed on a rolling
visa limit for immigrant farmworkers and minimum wages for
laborers, resolving sticking points on the path toward a broader
rewrite of U.S. immigration law.

Wages will be set based on labor-market surveys that
distinguish among different farm jobs, and visas for guest
workers will be limited to no more than 337,000 over three
years, according to lobbyists for organizations that resolved
disagreements yesterday.

Ending the discord means growers’ and workers’ groups can
back the legislative effort that will include creating a path to
citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

“This is a crucial step as momentum builds toward
introducing a bill to fix” the immigration system, Senator
Michael Bennet, a Colorado Democrat, said of the agreement.

Growers, including members of the American Farm Bureau
Federation, had sought a higher cap on visas and lower wage
levels than labor organizations such as the United Farmworkers
Union wanted. The broader effort would tighten border security
along with setting up the pathway to legal status for the
nation’s estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants.

The agreement worked out by Senators Dianne Feinstein, a
California Democrat, Bennet and Republicans Marco Rubio of
Florida and Orrin Hatch of Utah also provides “protections for
U.S. workers,” Feinstein said in a statement.

Worker Shortage

“There is a shortage of U.S. workers willing and able to
perform farm work,” the Agriculture Workforce Coalition, a
group of agricultural organizations including the Farm Bureau,
the largest U.S. grower group, said in a statement. “Securing a
reliable and competent workforce for our nation’s farms and
ranches is essential to ensuring that American consumers
continue to enjoy abundant and affordable food.”

Along with the wage and visa issues, job-advertisement
requirements that farm-owners said were onerous are being
relaxed. Workers will also have the ability to switch employers,
which the farmworkers’ union, the largest for migrant laborers,
indicated was a key protection. U.S. Department of Agriculture
will oversee the program for dispensing three-year guest-worker
visas rather than the Labor Department, a change from current
practice sought by growers.

The length of stay will help year-round industries,
including dairy producers, which have chafed at shorter-term
visas under the current H-2A agricultural guest-worker program.
A path to citizenship has also been included, with an expedited
route for workers who agree to remain in farm-related jobs.

Border Protection

The eight senators most active in immigration talks also
have agreed on border-protection principles essential to
Republican approval of any plan, according to people familiar
with the talks who asked not to be identified because the
negotiations were private.

In a sign that a final legislative proposal is near, the
group of senators canceled a planned meeting April 11, and a
person familiar with the talks said only staff-level work and
bill-drafting remains. The group plans to unveil its proposal
April 16, according to a Senate aide familiar with negotiations.
Both asked not to be identified in speaking about the talks.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, a
Vermont Democrat, said after meeting with members of the group
April 9 that he expects to “have legislative language to
review” in time for an April 17 hearing.

About 25 percent of the U.S. farm workforce, more than
300,000 people, don’t have valid immigration papers, according
to a 2009 survey by the Pew Hispanic Center. Other studies
suggest the number may be more than 1 million, based on the
seasonality of the work and historical trends.